Romans 13–15

Submission to the Authorities

13Let every person ^pbe subject to the governing authorities. For ^qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you ^rwill receive his approval, ⁴for ^she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, ^tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ^ufor the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ^7vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

^8wOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for ^xthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, ^y“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ^z“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^alove is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you ^bto wake from sleep. ^cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ^12dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ^ecast off ^fthe works of darkness and ^gput on the armor of light. ^13hLet us walk properly as in the daytime, ⁱnot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, ^jnot in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴But ^kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, ^lto gratify its desires.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14As for ^mthe one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ²ⁿOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^olet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ^4pWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master¹ that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

^5qOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. ^rEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since ^she gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For ^tnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, ^uwhether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ ^vdied and lived again, that he might be Lord both ^wof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For ^wwe will all stand before ^xthe judgment seat of God; ¹¹for it is written,

^y“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess² to God.”

¹²So then ^zeach of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

^13aTherefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide ^bnever to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus ^cthat nothing is unclean in itself, ^dbut it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, ^eyou are no longer walking in love. ^fBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ^16gSo do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ^17hFor the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but ⁱof righteousness and ^jpeace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Whoever thus serves Christ is ^kacceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹So then let us ^lpursue what makes for peace and for ^mmutual upbuilding.

²⁰ⁿDo not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. ^oEverything is indeed clean, but ^pit is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ^21qIt is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^{3 22}The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. ^rBlessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.⁴

The Example of Christ

15^sWe who are strong ^thave an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ^2uLet each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³For ^vChrist did not please himself, but as it is written, ^w“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴For ^xwhatever was written in former days was written for our ^yinstruction, that through endurance and through ^zthe encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ^ato live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶that together you may with one voice glorify ^bthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

⁸For I tell you that Christ ^cbecame a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order ^dto confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹and in order ^ethat the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

^f“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.”

¹⁰And again it says,

^g“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹And again,

^h“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.”

¹²And again Isaiah says,

^ij“The root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

^kin him will the Gentiles hope.”

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all ^ljoy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

^14mI myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,¹ that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with ⁿall knowledge and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, ^obecause of the grace given me by God ¹⁶to be ^pa minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles ^qin the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that ^rthe offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷In Christ Jesus, then, I have ^sreason to be proud of ^tmy work for God. ¹⁸For I will not venture to speak of anything except ^uwhat Christ has accomplished through me ^vto bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, ^19wby the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that ^xfrom Jerusalem and all the way around ^yto Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; ²⁰and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, ^zlest I build on someone else’s foundation, ²¹but as it is written,

^a“Those who have never been told of him will see,

and those who have never heard will understand.”

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²²This is the reason why ^bI have so often been hindered from coming to you. ²³But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and ^csince I have longed for many years to come to you, ²⁴I hope to see you in passing as I go ^dto Spain, and ^eto be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵At present, however, ^fI am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. ²⁶For ^gMacedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. ²⁷For they were pleased to do it, and indeed ^hthey owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. ²⁸When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,² I will leave ⁱfor Spain by way of you. ²⁹I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing³ of Christ.

³⁰I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by ^jthe love of the Spirit, ^kto strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ^31lthat I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that ^mmy service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³²so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and ⁿbe refreshed in your company. ³³May ^othe God of peace be with you all. Amen.